Ferrer beats Fish to close out US

AUSTIN, Texas — Spain’s David Ferrer beat American Mardy Fish 7-5, 7-6 (3), 5-7, 7-6 (5) to clinch a victory for Spain over the United States in a Davis Cup quarterfinal.

Ferrer, who beat Andy Roddick on Friday night, fell backward when Fish’s final shot sailed wide, then jumped into the arms of Spain captain Albert Costa. The win gave Spain an insurmountable 3-1 lead.

Playing without world No. 2 Rafael Nadal, Spain went 3-0 in singles. Spain will host France in a semifinal on Sept. 16-18. Spain is seeking its third Davis Cup championship in four years.

Spain had to overcome a rowdy pro-American crowd to earn its first Davis Cup victory in the U.S. After Ferrer’s victory, Sunday night’s scheduled match between Roddick and Feliciano Lopez was canceled.

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Lopez beat Fish on Friday. The Americans won their only point Saturday in doubles. Lopez beat Fish Friday.

The U.S. is now 1-37 in Davis Cup play after falling into an 0-2 hole. The only time the Americans have rallied after losing the first two matches was in 1934 against Australia in London.

Ferrer, ranked No. 6 in the world, trailed Fish 5-3 in the first set, then broke serve twice in winning the next four games. Frustrated by 20 unforced errors in the set, Fish slammed and broke a racket.

Fish dialed up a dominant serve in the second, but Ferrer still pushed the set to a tie-breaker and won it 7-3. Fish rallied to win the third set before Ferrer put the match away in the fourth.

With the crowd getting louder to support Fish after every winning shot, Ferrer looked frustrated and even drew a warning when he smacked a ball deep in the stands. The players traded three service breaks before Ferrer went up 5-4 after a shot by Fish slipped a fraction of an inch wide.

Fish still forced a tiebreaker and trailed 0-3 before rallying with three straight points. The match ended on a long rally before Fish’s final shot sailed wide.

After hugging Costa, Ferrer was surrounded by a mob of teammates and team staff. Teammate Fernando Verdasco stood up and pumped his fist toward the small but loud contingent of Spanish fans who had supported their team with chants of “Ole!” and “Espana!” for three days. The Spanish team then danced on the court while Ferrer went to sign autographs.

In other Davis Cup play Sunday, Serbia’s Janko Tipsarevic beat Michael Ryderstedt of host Sweden in straight sets 6-2, 7-5, 6-3 to send the defending champs an insurmountable 3-1 lead and into the semifinals to play Argentina.